nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. and a good saturday afternoon to you. i'm craig melvin coming to you from washington, d.c., it's our nation's capital and we're covering the president's end of the first term, and the nation is gearing up for the big day on monday when president obama takes the public oath of office in front of hundreds of thousands, and if you're planning to watch it in person, bundle up.

forecasters predicting the temperatures are in the mid-30s and expected to be breezy, as well. >> big news in the debt ceiling, the house gop considering on raising the debt limit. we'll bring you more details and the senate judiciary committee, patrick leahy announced he'll be taking up issues of gun violence and immigration in the new term. republicans and democrats recently announced senate committee assignments and we'll talk about that as well. this afternoon the president kicked off the national day of service volunteering at a school here in the d.c. area. tomorrow he will take the oath of office in a private ceremony at noon. nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. nbc news senior political editor mark murray standing by with new insight from the new nbc news wall street journal poll. let me start with you.

for folks who may not get this, a lot of folks wondering why is the president -- he's going to be sworn in on sunday and sworn in again on monday. what's the deal? >> reporter: well, craig, the reason is that the constitution states that the president has to be sworn in before noon on january 20th. january 20th falls on a sunday this year. it's the seventh time that happened in the nation's history so president obama will be officially sworn in here at the white house in a private ceremony in the blue room with families and chief justice john roberts. the day will begin with vice president biden getting sworn in by justice sotomayor. that's happening at a different time than president obama because we are told according to several officials that the chief justice at the justice department has done investigating on this, and some reporting on this, apparently biden wants justice sotomayor to

swear him in. there is a schedule you willing conference and she has a book signing and they'll get that taken care of earlier in the day. the vice president and the president will head to a wreath laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery and then during the evening they will attend an inaugural reception. so it is a busy day as they prepare for the public swearing in which will take place on monday and we should say today is the national day of service. both vice presidented bien and president obama participating in that earlier today, craig. >> kristen welker participating from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. thanks, appreciate that. nbc's senior political editor mark murray joining me now. mark, a part of this recent poll put together by nbc news and "the wall street journal," it finds that just 35% of adults believe this country is headed in the right direction and that's down six points from last

month and more than seven in ten people are dissatisfied with the present state of the economy. 60% believe we have hard times ahead. president obama swept into office, four years ago in the waive of hope, but it it seems to show that things have soured and it seems more like cope rather than hope. what happened? >> this is a different environment than it was four years ago, craig and a couple of points. president bush does come into a success term in the strong political position. his approval readings is 52% and the second-term agenda items like gun control as well as immigration and you mentioned those attitudes about the direction of the country and about the economy and this is an american public right now that lowered its standards and lowered its expectations from four years ago. in some ways that's a good situation from the obama white house and sometimes lower

expectations make it easier to get achievements done, but this is a country that is still being hit by the aftereffects of the great recession and also this poll comes after the terrible tragic shooting as well as the showdown in the new year. >> we polled folks when they were already pretty down. >> let me ask you about the war in iraq. president obama's political prominence first propelled by his opposition to the war. what did we find in the poll with regards to the war in iraq? >> it was fascinating, a number we had. 51% the iraq war wasn't worth it. that it was the near 60% and that's been the case since 2007 and the nbc/wall street journal poll. the iraq war is the most understated issues in the last few years and this was an issue that propelled president obama into the white house and allowed

him to beat hillary clinton and beat john mccain in the 2008 general election and it's important to note that four years ago as president obama was taking the oath of office, there were 140,000 troops in iraq, now that number is just 200. so a pretty significant change in that country and certainly one of the issues that maybe we're not talking about as much as we should be. >> all right. mark murray, nbc new senior political editor. thank you, sir. >> thanks, craig. >> a potential breakthrough is being treated with skepticism. house republicans on friday announced a plan to extend the debt ceiling deadline until mid-april. >> we will extend the debt limit until the timeline when you have a budget and a road map so you stop digging yourself in the hole. part of not having the budget is what's gotten us into this problem in the first place. >> of course, at stake here is

the credibility of the u.s. economy and the united states can befall to the national debt and it does not increase the bar. joining me now is the political staff writer, art shapiro, white house correspondent for mpr. good saturday to both of you. >> thank you for having us. >> cheryl, we'll start with you. this new plan pushes the threat of default until mid-april and contingent as congressman mccarty is contingent on the fact that the house and senate will have to both pass budgets and that hasn't happened in some time and congressional salaries also on the line. is this a viable strategy? >> i think it's an interesting strategy. if you're a senate democratic staffer and you just watched house republican leaders come out of the retreat and this is the plan, you're sitting there scratching your head being, like, wait. was it really this easy? what just happened here? i think what this does is it sets up a muc greater battle in a few months and what house republicans are doing here is they are betting that they'll have more political capital on

their side in a few months after we get through the sequestration battle and a couple of other legislative things going on on capitol hill. on the surface, it does win where democrats are. >> i want to take a listen and we'll talk about it on the other side. here it is. >> it is reassuring to see republicans beginning to back off their threat to hold our economy hostage. that's senate leader harry reid there. house minority leader nancy pelosi rejected the plan. did the republicans make a real effort here or was this a gimmick as nancy pelosi said? >> the most important thing for republicans is they are re-ordering the three fiscal conflicts that the country has ahead. the three conflicts are are the sequestration and the deep cuts to domestic and military spending and the end of the funding of the government that could result in a govern shutdown and the sent ceiling fight and the debt ceiling fight has potentially the worst consequences for the economy.

so the republicans thought instead of taking the debt ceiling fight first and potentially doing real harm, let's move it to the end of the first of three standoffs. >> and sequestration, of course, also a major issue. do republicans think they can win on -- on major cuts to domestic and military spending? >> probably not. i don't think they have a lot of betting power here at all. the debt ceiling was the biggest bargaining chip that they had and they just moved it to basically a totally different battle which would be over the budget and spending in a few months. >> you're segeing an emerging consensus that you can't control the entire government if you only control one part of congress. seeing the hits they took in 2011 over the debt ceiling fight over the fiscal cliff battle and trying to reorganize their strategy here. >> was there some polling conducted or was there something else that acted as an impetus? was there some sort of epiphany

in williamsburg? >> in williamsburg, their own republican pollsters presented their numbers and headlines are more popular right now than republicans in congress. >> you don't need a pollster to tell them what happened in the last couple of months with their reputation and the divisiveness among the caucus that's been very well publicized. >> the white house has responded to this proposal by calling it, quote, a terrible way to run the country and the president has a hard line stance of not negotiating on the debt ceiling. do we think that the white house takes this deal or do we think that the white house pushes back and says no, we don't want three months. we want six months, we want a year, what do you think the white house response will be? >> i'll see how they're going to react to what the house puts forward and see how many house democrats votes against it and that's what i would look for next. >> they want a one year or more deal, it would not surprise me at all if the president signs this. >> ari shapiro from mpr, good to

have you guys in the flesh. usually it's just in boxes and it's good to have you here and see your faces and look in your eyes. >> while the gop has the debt ceiling, the group of democrats want to do away with the ceiling altogether. no debt ceiling. one of those congressmen will join me on the other side of this break. >> congress is more removed from this issue than mayors are. congress people don't get called in the middle of the night when a police officer has been shot. mayors do. >> one of those mayors, l.a.'s antonio villaraigosa coming up in the next hour. keep it here. this is msnbc, the place for politics and cool music picked out by producers in new york city. ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats.

you can't go wrong loving it. plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+.

♪ doing it with a cold, just not going to happen. vicks dayquil -- powerful non-drowsy 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪ no matter what city you're playing tomorrow. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. ♪ vicks nyquil -- powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪

house republicans will introduce a bill wednesday to raise the debt limit ceiling for three months. the bill could prevent a major clash with the white house over government spending. the white house said it was encouraged by the gop move, but press secretary jay carney saying in part, quote, the president has made clear that congress has only two options. pay the bills they've racked up or failed to do so and put our nation into default. i want to bring in georgia democratic congressman dan johnson. good to have you with me this saturday. >> thank you for having me. >> the republican plan is coupled with a no budget, no-pay provision aimed at forcing the senate to pass the budget before an april deadline. if no budget is passed, members of congress, including yourself, don't get paid. what do you think about that proposal? >> well, you know, we have an issue with republicans who can't even control the members in

their own caucus thinking that they can control proceedings in the senate and also the president enforced those to do what they want to have done and so they are trying to postpone the day of reckoning basically, for two months and i don't think the scheme is going work. >> so you don't support any part of that proposal? >> well, i mean, if we have a clean debt ceiling bill that comes forward and it's only for three months, that's something that i certainly would consider, but to tie a rise in the debt ceiling to decreasing spending on programs that benefit the middle class, i think it's the republicans' ultimate objective and i certainly do not support that. so we can postpone the day of

reckoning, kick the can down the road as this -- the 112th congress did and as the 113th congress -- >> congressman, i didn't mean to cut you off there, but i do want to follow up to something you said, do you support cutting spending at all? do you support cutting any aspect of spending? >> i think that's a legitimate topic that should be under discussion. i think there is a lot of room in the defense budget for cuts, but our primary focus in terms of the economy should be job creation. so that means that the government has to spend in order to create economic stability. economic progress. we need jobs in this economy for middle class people and that's what will make this economy stronger and so if we cut then

we're going against that very basic economic principle. when you constrict the budget and cut off the flow of money, you're not going have as many jobs available. so i am not -- i am not in favor of drastic cuts in spending at this time, but i do think long term we should be looking at reducing our debt and restoring fiscal sanity to our budget. >> a group of house democrats, yourself included you want to do away with the debt ceiling law altogether. this is congressman jerry neven, this is what he had to say about it. take a listen. >> it is time to repeal the debt ceiling and today we're introducing legislation to do just that. instead of playing a game of chicken with the full faith and credit of the united states, we must deal with the economic and fiscal problems that face our nation responsibly without blackmail. >> congressman, why should

congress step a bay from taway the debt limit process altogether? >> well, a statutory requirement to have a vote to increase the debt ceiling is unnecessary. it has served the purpose. back in 1939 that was enacted into law to try to create some flexibility so that the nation could obtain more favorable financing so we go from time to time, and you make increases in the debt ceiling to accommodate the need to borrow money to pay for the spending that you've already authorized, but now that is being used as a political weapon. one of my colleagues said that they've weaponized the statute,

and using it for politics and it is hurting our fiscal situation. it's hurting our economy and we simply do not need to allow one side to use it to extract spending cuts. ooh really hurting our economy. >> congressman, we'll have to leave it there. georgia democrat hank johnson. thank you. >> thank you. >> it's a problem that affects a lot of people in america, obesity, but there's one segment of the population where it's reaching epidemic proportions, but an online movement has started to help fight the crisis. i'll talk to one of the founders of a really cool group. you're watching msnbc. ♪ ♪

give a couple beginners a great idea, and they won't be beginners for long. they'll go to where they can get the skills, the savings, and the supplies they need - to go from beginning... to doing... to beautifully done. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now this ashland vanity is a special buy at just two hundred, ninety-nine dollars. call (star star)thd to shop now. [ male announcer ] the distances aren't getting shorter. ♪ the trucks are going farther. the 2013 ram 1500 with best-in-class fuel economy. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. the new ram 1500. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year.

[ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses?

aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. [ female announcer ] he could be the one. soulmate. husband. loving father to your children. but first you've got to get him to say, "hello." new crest 3d white arctic fresh toothpaste. use it with these 3d white products, and whiten your teeth in just 2 days. what will a 3d white smile do for you? new crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up when you do. four out of five african-american women are overweight or obese.

how's that for an eye-opening statistic. doing something to combat those numbers, though, that's today's big idea which started out as a blog urging african-american women to make healthy living a priority has turned into a national movement. it is called black girls run and ashley hicks is one of the founders. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> two-thirds of african-americans generally are overweight or obese. two-thirds of american, i should say, why are the numbers so much higher for black women, specifically? >> you know, we've been trying to figure that out. a couple of things that we found is that it's the hair issue. it's women not wanting to work out because they're going to mess up their hair. culturally we've eaten these hearty meals and we've eaten the sunday dinners and it's a lot of food we should not be eaten and it's a lot of fried foods and those are the two main issues why it's such a huge issue in

our country. >> we're promoting awareness about diabetes, heart disease, as well, encouraging women to run. have you seen anything in your travels that's encouraged you to think that the message might be getting through? >> of course, we've really had a good time traveling around and meeting the girls, and hearing the best stories about people telling us they lost weight and they're no longer taking the high blood pressure medication and people are adapting this lifestyle. it's a healthy lifestyle and one of the best parts about it, too, is a lot of our members are moms and now they're passing those lessons on to their kids and their kids are running and their kids are eating healthy snacks and doing all of those things so we've had so many success stories. >> for folks who are watching right now who with might be interested in getting involved, very quickly, give me the website and what is it, exactly? >> right. >> it's a national running group. we've got 60 chapters across the

u.s. and if you're interested in getting involved, go to our website, black girls run.com and look for the local chapter and we're open to all levels of runners. >> i'm glad you include the last part because that's one of the things that struck me. you guys aren't going out running 13 miles once a week. this is for everyone. really quickly, before i let you go, michelle obama, an icon, a model when it comes to exercise for a lot of women. how has her work served your cause? >> you know, i think her work has served our cause because she's just shedding light on the issue especially childhood obesity and a lot of our moms think i have to be a good example for my kids and we're doing something that the whole family is doing and we're taking on a healthier lifestyle. >> your website says you brew your own beer, hicks light. >> from one new home brew tore another, how does that job with fitness, ashley?

>> you know what? i preach a lifestyle of moderation. i'm not rung a full marathon. occasionally, i can indulge. >> all right. ashley hick, black girls run. fantastic. thank you so much for all that you're doing, as well. >> thank you. former congressman, patrick kennedy waging a war on the legalization of marijuana. kind of ironic, don't you think? why he's taking up the issue. we'll talk about that next. also the organization that got president obama reelected has started a new mission. i'll talk to the man heading that mission and jim messina will join us. this is msnbc, the place for politics, even on saturday. cie continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release. mommy's having a french fry.

yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. [ woman ] too weak. wears off. been there. tried that. ladybug body milk? no thanks. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. it's so powerful you can skip a day... but light enough you won't want to. dermatologist recommended eucerin. the end of trial and error has arrived. try a free sample at eucerinus.com.

it's not for colds. it's not for pain. it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing™. ♪ zzzquil™. the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil®. we just got this video in moments ago. this is video from bulgaria. some scary and amazing footage of what could have been an

assassination in that country. a 25-year-old gunman, you just saw him there, wrestled, punched to the ground after he rushes it is podium in the middle of a speech, given by a turkish minority leader and he pointed a gas pistol in the man's face, the speaker knocked it away after they beat him into submission. that gunman was also carrying two knives. the gunman now in custody and scary moments in bulgaria. i'm craig melvin. >> here are other news making top stories. american and british officials say the hostage crisis in algeria has been brought to an end in the final assault, but the head of bp which owns the gas complex seized by islamist militants now says four of its employees remain unaccounted for. 14 others are are reportedly safe and secure in this latest operation, 19 hostages and 29 militants were killed during the four-day operation. manti te'o says he, quote,

was not faking it. the nfl hopeful told espn he did not know for sure that his imaginary girlfriend didn't exist until news reports broke wednesday. ask it doesn't look like boeing's dreamliners will be taking on off any time soon. the 787 won't be allowed to fly until authorities are, quote, 1,000% sure they are safe. it's the first time the government has grounded an entire fleet of planes in more than three decades. back to d.c. now. security officials here are already hard at work to make sure things stay safe at the inauguration ceremonies tomorrow and on monday. justice correspondent pete williams joining me live now. here's the thing. four years ago security officials were bracing for a record 1.8 million people and they're looking for half that number and they still have a big job to do. are security officials anticipating a differentest is problems this time around?

>> no, i think, in fact, they're probably anticipating fewer problems and it's going to be 2 million people and probably a third of that, 600,000 this time. so the big emphasis this year is crowd control because they had so many problems years ago. thousands of people got stuck in a tunnel. that tunnel will be closed this year, so there's no chance of that. they say they'll have more metal detectors and more people to guide them four years ago. better signs and use of social media and that's one emphasis this year and it will be an easier charge just because there is such a smaller crowd, but the security concerns are just as real, craig. they don't change from inaugural to inaugural. if anything they become more complicated every time. there's a threat stream that they follow, they track everything in the hours leading up to the inaugural as things wash through, but they continue

to say there's no credible threat to the inaugural and there will be thousands of people on hand to do security and police from here in washington and from virginia and maryland. national guardsmen from 25 states and that's all in addition to hundreds of federal agents from around the country who come in to do this job every four years. >> pete williams, our justice correspondent giving us the very latest on the security preps for the inauguration. pete, thank you. >> you bet. meanwhile, the obama administration is trying to figure out the legal response to the growing state by state effort to legalize marijuana. now, a kennedy has added the family name against the drug. patrick kennedy leading a group called project sam or smart approaches to marijuana, but kennedy who has a history of substance abuse himself is already drawing a fair amount criticism for his cause. he joins me live on the set in washington, d.c., let's start there with some of the

criticism. it could not have come as a surprise to you. >> no, but a good cause like this needs to galvanize attention because it's already in 18 states. it's going even further and before we know it we'll wake up one day and we're going have another tobacco industry. it's going to be called the marijuana industry and we already know what big tobacco did to our kids. sdwroe camel targeting kids. we know who the alcohol liquor has done. they target children and may market to people who are alcoholics, frankly, and they flood the market and make it accessible. i don't think we need a new legalized drug. michael bloomberg taking oxycontin off the shelves in new york city and we have an enormous epidemic of abuse and then the thought to introduce a new legalized drug to me doesn't make sense. >> how is your personal experience with substance abuse.

you took oxycontin and you sought treatment treatment for it and how does that play into that now. >> i've spent analyzing addiction and nine out of ten addicts start when they're kids as i did. that changes your brain chemistry because as your brain develops and it isn't fully developed until your 20s, so the notion that we'll give a green light of permissiblity, for people who say it's harmless and we know kids have access to this, but we shouldn't be adding fuel to the fire. my point is let's get the public health officials here and offer other recommendations besides incarceration. because i'm also against incarceration. >> for low-level dealers. >> we have expungement if you go to drug court and mental health court. we want to have treatment, but people say who are proposing this that it's going create a new revenue stream. we know what the revenue stream

for alcohol has done, we spend ten in our emergency rooms, in drunk driving accidents and in domestic violence. craig, i just don't think this is something that's smart, and i think we ought to reverse course, frankly. >> you launched project sam in denver next week. colorado, one of the places that's chosen to legalize the drug. why start the fight there? >> it was ground zero because we were focused after we woke up after election day and saw colorado had legalized it and washington state had, and 18 had done medical marijuana, but in oregon where there's medical marijuana, kids can get a license. in california, those who are applying for licenses, 90% don't have cancer, don't have ms, don't have any of the things you and i would associate needing medical marijuana, and by the way, craig, when do we have to smoke it in order to get the benefits of the thc? like, do we call people to smoke

opium in order to get narcotics? that's ridiculous. what we need to do is find a real medical option and not go down this road of having a new tobacco industry. >> does your group want to make possession of stall amounts of marijuana a civil offense, is that accurate? >> that's accurate. >> this is the marijuana policy projectses and this is one of the groups opposed in your efforts. quote, marijuana consumers should not be forced into treatment or subjected to mandatory health screenings and marijuana education camps and they also add and this is a swipe at you. you come from a family who made a fortune selling alcohol, a product that is objectively far more harmful than marijuana. how do you answer questions like that about enforcement treatments. >> two wrongs don't make a right. i know there's neurotoxicity with alcohol so we should keep kids from using alcohol, too. the point is we don't want to be fighting this war on all front, and i just think we ought to

listen to the public health officials. there are implications here. >> what about the public? there seems to be a growing number of people in this country who are saying at the ballot box, you know what? we're tired of this. we want our pot. we want to be able to smoke in the privacy of our own homes. what about those people? >> well, that's why we should have a debate about it. i just don't think we've either got to lock them up or light it up. there's no middle ground here and that's what i hope to engender through this campaign. let's bring in public health officials and let's understand driving under the influence of marijuana. the implications of that are enormous. let's understand smoking while having a baby. the fact that a parent would be smoking and the implications on child development and as i said, the accessibility to children. this is a balance, but i think the pendulum has swung way too far and everyone thinks, oh, marijuana's not that bad. it's -- it's much stronger than the woodstock marijuana that was

20, 30 years ago and its impact on brain development has been underestimated. >> we'll have to leave it there. >> thanks, craig. >> you are clearly quite passionate about it, too. former congressman, patrick kennedy, thank you for your time. >> thank you, craig. >> he is playing a key role in the planning of the second inauguration. coming up, i'll talk to jim messina who, of course, ran the president's campaign and we'll also talk about what he is going to be doing to help the president with regards to this new operation that looks a lot like his old operation. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. [ male announcer ] house rule number 46.

what's good for the pot... is even better for the cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house. now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. is bigger than we think ... sometimelike the flu.fer from with aches, fever and chills- the flu's a really big deal. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so don't wait. call your doctor right away. tamiflu is prescription medicine for treating the flu in adults and children one year and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing. have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior,

stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. the flu comes on fast, so ask your doctor about tamiflu. prescription for flu. nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office.

as the president takes the oath of office for a second time monday, obama for america. the group responsible for reelecting him is getting a makeover. obama for america now organizing for action. that's the new name of the organization. in an email to supporters said, quote, we've got to keep working

on a growing economy along with making meaningful projects, with immigration reform, climate change, balanced deficit reduction, reducing gun violence and the implementation of the affordable care act. with me now, jim messina, the man responsible for re-electing the president and heading this new non-profit group and he's head of the inaugural parade. this is a busy time for you jim, huh? >> hi, craig, how are you? it's busy, but a lot of fun. >> let's start with this new group here. it's set up like a 501 -- it's set up as a 501c4 group which is different from a super pac. it's able to legally coordinate with the white house. how do you think that's going to help the mission? >> look. we went out and surveyed our members across the country and two things became very apparent. one, they wanted to stay together. they had built something very special through two very tough presidential campaigns and two, they wanted to continue to work

on the issues that motivated them to get involved with barack obama in the first place. you talked about them, the economy. immigration reform, climate change. all things that we care very deeply about and so as we looked at how to do that, the structure made the most sense. it allows us to coordinate with the white house and continues to run a grassroots operation that takes the fight out of washington and says to people, look, get involved and these are incredibly important issues of our time and let's tackle them. >> jim, you didn't know this. the new nbc, wall street journal poll, the president's approval rating, a lot lower than his likability numbers. a lot of people like barack obama, the man. they are not wild about his approximately s policies in a lot of instances. how do you think running an organization like this without having the president himself on a ticket. how do you think that's really going to work? >> well, look. i think there's clear, common

sense consensus on a host of issues. immigration reform, how to move our economy forward, how to build an energy economy that creates jobs that deals with climate change. there's clear consensus on those issues and we'll come with that consensus and we'll work together to pass the proposals the president has laid out. i think our supporters are really excited to do this, and i think that there is, you know, a very good chance we can be pretty effective. >> walk me through what this will be, are we talking phone banks? are we talking door to door, or raising money for television ads? what will be the department admission here? >> we'll do it all, but the most important thing is always going to be the grassroots. we will continue to build neighborhood team organizations of neighbors talking to neighbors and we know that worked when two presidential elections and we know how we got health care done and we know it's the only way to tackle these big challenges that you and i talked about and that's

how it will look. will we run tv ads? of course, we will. we'll build a grassroots mobilization effort to say to washington it's time to move on things like immigration, gun safety and an economy built to last. all things that there's consensus on. washington just needs to act. the president, of course, can't run again. what happens to this group in four years? does it have another re-incarnation post-presidency? >> well, we'll see. we're on day two of this. i know what is true is that our supporters are really excited to work in the second term to pass meaningful change that everyone knows we need. we're really excited to get right back on the doors and have those same discussions and our folks are getting pretty good at that time after two campaigns and we're excited to turn that into legislation and try to get some things done. we know it won't be easy and we know it's harder than a

campaign, but as the president said repeatedly, ooh up to democrats and independents to work to tackle the challenges and that's what we're going to do. >> how concerned is what the president will use a great deal of his political capital on the gun control issue and not have a great deal of it left for various fiscal fights for immigration, for climate change or energy? >> i'm not concerned at all. the president set out several different items that we need to tackle, gun safety, immigration reform and these are the things that average americans agree on. this isn't like we can't walk and chew gum. >> i don't know, jim. i don't know if washington can do more than one thing. i don't know, sometimes they can't do one thing at a time. thank you for your time, though ask congrats, as well. you are getting the macchiavelli award by the italian leadership

council. that's a big deal, sir. >> thank you very much, craig. jim messina and a big weekend for your former boss, as well. the president taking part in the national day of service as part of his inaugural weekend and one of the people joining him for that event actress angela bass basset, i'll talk to her next live on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this.

[ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages.

i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

the president kicked off the national day of service today volunteering out of school in the washington, d.c. area, he was joined by the first family, also joined by 500 volunteers as well. joining me live from the national day of service on the national mall. actress, angela bassett. ms. bassett, good to see you. >> hi, thank you, thanks for having me. >> hey, you look great by the way, i love the hair. let's talk about the national day of service for folks not

familiar, what happened? >> here, within this wonderful tent and here on the mall, there are volunteers who have come from all over to sign up for ways in which they can serve their communities and give back whether it's education, faith, a variety of different ways. the enthuz -- the excitement is through the roof. the hope is that they sign up in their communities. they can do it by e-mail and take it back and continue it throughout the year. as dr. martin luther king said, we can all be great, we can all sr serve. >> you are going to be appearing in a movie where you play ms. king as well. you play the role of a lot of prominent african american

women. i had a woman on earlier that is a hero of mine. i asked her to characterize the president's first four years and she said that one of the things that struck her was the opposition that the president has received time and time again. i will ask you the same question. how do you characterize the first four years. i would say that as maya said, an incredible amount of oppositio opposition of that, still a great victory and work that he has accomplished in terms of women's rights and students, you know and opportunities for students, in terms of paying for their education, and in terms of the troops and also the way that we are viewed in the world as a country. raising that profile back to, you know, to where it was. you know, years previous. i think he has done a lot of

good. and still has a lot more to do. looking forward to that, and the excitement here is wonderful, and we are just behind had him. >> let's talk about the movie quickly that is coming out in february. >>. where does it rank compared to the rolls that you have had? >> well, you know, usually you know how important it is, if you have just a little bit of healthy fear about it. you know, about getting it right. i was speaking with martin, iii this afternoon, he was also here the day of service, and i just wanted to express to him the great deal of respect that we had for his family. for his mother and his father. and how tremendous their lives were. and how impossible it is to distill that, in anyone's life

in two hours we approach it with such reguard and such respect and i hope that -- >> it's thank you for having. the debt limit, just for a short time, and with one big catch, attached, we will talk about that we will have more to president's first big event of the weekend, a call to action to help each other and we will get to talk to the president's senior adviser. she will join me up next. did you know that as we age our need for protein increases, yet many of us don't meet our daily protein needs? that's why there's boost® high protein nutritional drink. each delicious serving provides fifteen grams of protein to help maintain muscle and help meet expert recommended

daily protein needs. plus it provides twenty-six essential vitamins and minerals and is gluten-free. help get the nutrition you need with a complete and balanced nutritional drink. try boost® high protein. also available in powder. this has been medifacts for boost®. [ female announcer ] for everything your face has to face. face it with puffs ultra soft & strong. puffs has soft, air-fluffed pillows for 40% more cushiony thickness. face every day with puffs softness.

>> good saturday afternoon to you. coming to you from washington, d.c., we are here of course to